Hong Kong asks Beijing for more democratic freedom

Tens of thousands of residents gather to march in the annual pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong on July 1. Pic: AP.

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong has sent a report to Beijing recommending changes to allow for greater democracy in the southern Chinese city, kicking off a process that will ultimately let residents elect their leader for the first time in 2017.

Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed leader, Leung Chun-ying, said in his report Tuesday that consultations with nearly 125,000 people and groups in the city found they were “eager” for universal suffrage.

The report, however, downplayed widespread calls for the public to nominate candidates free of China’s vetting and is sure to add to discontent among residents already upset over Beijing’s growing influence in the former British colony.

On July 1, an estimated half a million people took to Hong Kong’s streets in a rally to press for full democracy.

The H K government did not ask for more freedom. What the government asked for fell much short of what the majority of Hong Kong people wanted. Hong Kong people demanded a universal suffrage with a liberal approach to nominate candidates which is not permitted by Beijing. H K people are now mad at what the government misconstrued the whole opinion-seeking process.

Frankie Fook-lun Leung

To Beiing, Hong Kong people are corrupted by foreign influences to make such demands on China.